And So it Begins

 

8/31/26 Green Lake sweet gums

Well, folks, there’s no denying it anymore: Fall is just around the corner. The Green Lake sweet gums say so.

These trees, by the way, are the ones I sketch most regularly in fall, sometimes more than once per season (this post from a few years ago includes a retrospective of many of them). In my early sketching years, I always stood right next to them, where I struggled to fit them in. (Back then, I was still calling them “maples”; I didn’t learn that they were sweet gums until quite a bit later.) More recently, I’ve been sketching them from across the lake, where their colors are a brilliant blur.

This week I stood where I could focus on the sweet gum at the head of the line, which consistently begins turning long before her sisters. The others are still mostly green.

“Summer Thunder” at Kubota Garden

 

8/30/26 Taiko drumming event at Kubota Garden

Since notice was very short, I wasn’t sure how many sketchers would join me at Kubota Garden for “Summer Thunder,” a taiko drumming event that also featured dancing and storytelling. I was happy to find at least a few folks there!

As soon as I arrived, I realized I hadn’t been to the garden in quite a while; I think the last time was in 2022. It’s lovely year-round, but late summer is probably one of the best times to be at Kubota. Some Japanese maples were just beginning to hint at turning; in a couple of months, they’ll be gorgeous. I could have spent a long time trying to capture layers of foliage, but on this sunny afternoon I was more in the mood for the festive taiko event (top of post).

Eventually I took a walk through the maze of the garden. No matter how many times I’ve been there, I always get lost on its meandering paths. I don’t know where I was when I found a pine tree that was asking to be sketched (a good eavesdropping spot, too).

Lunar Eclipse

 

8/27/26 partial lunar eclipse

Not paying attention to the time, I nearly missed last Thursday’s partial lunar eclipse when a text from a friend reminded me to look out the window. Luckily, the sky was clear at exactly 9:12 p.m. PT, when 96.2 percent of the moon was obscured – the peak of the near-total eclipse. I knew I would be asleep by the time it looked interesting again, so I was happy to catch this much.

Back in January 2019, I made a series of sketches of a total lunar eclipse that had begun earlier in the evening.

Phinney Station from the Other Side

 

8/25/26 Phinney Station, Phinney Ridge neighborhood

After our zoo visit and lunch nearby, Roy, Mary Jean and I walked a half-mile up the street to Bluebird Ice Cream for dessert. The tiny shop’s outdoor seating gave us an ideal view of Phinney Station directly across the street. That’s the venue where USk Seattle had a drink & draw a few weeks ago. I always find it fun to sketch a venue from the outside after having sketched it from the inside – especially when it has lots of umbrellas.

Paper notes: Since I knew I wanted to use Derwent Drawing pencils to draw zoo animals that day, I had brought along my Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook – my favorite paper for use with those soft pencils. Although they’re ideal for fuzzy animals, soft colored pencils weren’t right for Phinney Station’s hard edges. For that, I preferred using a brush pen on Zeta’s smooth surface, which imparts a crisp line to all inks.

How I love Hahnemuhle paper with water-soluble materials!

But what to do about all that background foliage? I knew better, but I went ahead and used water-soluble colored pencils (Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle and Derwent Inktense) and water-soluble Caran d’Ache Neocolor II crayons anyway. I activated the color, waited for the water to dry, then went back over it lightly with more dry color, trying to put back the texture I had lost. It’s not the same, though, as my all-time favorite 100 percent cotton Hahnemühle with water-soluble materials (as I used in the sketch at right, shown for comparison). Both the texture and especially the sizing of Zeta paper just don’t take wet media as well.

The Zoo is Full of Surprises

 

8/25/26 Silverback gorilla, Woodland Park Zoo

Visiting the zoo is always a crapshoot. Some days the animals are awake and active; others they are sleeping or just hiding from visitors. Woodland Park Zoo opens at 9 a.m. each day because the animals are supposedly more active in the morning, but I’ve had both good and bad luck at all times of day. You never know what you’ll get.

When Mary Jean, Roy and I visited last week, our sketchbooks were ready for whatever the animals gave us. I’ve been visiting the zoo for all the years I’ve been sketching, and on this day, the gorillas were the most visible and sketchable than any time I can remember! The silverback gave us the best show, loping around, leisurely chewing on twigs he was foraging and finally chillin’ with his snack very close to the viewing area. Several other adults and a few adolescent gorillas were also actively hanging out. They were all fascinating to watch and draw.

The Humboldt penguins are usually easy to see and sketch wherever they are in their large, open exhibit, but on this day several were within the viewing area that puts them closest to visitors. Molting and apparently uncomfortable, the birds vigorously scratched and preened their scrappy-looking feathers. After taking a dip, they would shake their tiny wings and rear ends, then dive in again. So much fun!

Humboldt penguins

A few weeks ago when I visited, Carson, the red panda, had been easily visible. This time, I could barely see him in the distance, so all I sketched in the Forest Trailhead exhibit was a tree kangaroo (probably the same one who was sitting on the same perch as last time).

Tree kangaroo and Humboldt penguins

Like all urban sketching, much of the fun and challenge is not knowing what you’ll get but enjoying whatever it is.

(See this Instagram post for a couple of videos I took of the silverback and a penguin.)

Wallingford Dick’s Drive-in

 

8/24/26 Dick's Drive-in, Wallingford neighborhood

“Serving Seattle’s favorite burgers, hand-cut fries, and real ice cream shakes since 1954,” Dick’s Drive-in in Wallingford still has the classic drive-in shape. I haven’t eaten a burger anywhere in four decades, and I haven’t even eaten fries at Dick’s for years (though I know they are good), but I appreciate any venue widely regarded as an institution. Although I’ve sketched both the Queen Anne Dick’s and the one on Capitol Hill, this was my first time sketching the Wallingford branch of this local chain.

I looked for a composition that would include both the restaurant and the iconic, original sign, but there was too much empty space between them to fit right. Instead, I sketched the sign as an inset (which is a favored layout technique of Mike Daikubara). I don’t always take the time to color in all the details of signs, but who could resist those candy corn colors?

Seward Park Trees

 

8/26/26 Seward Park

Although I visited Seward Park fairly often as a teen, after I moved further north as an adult, I rarely went there. I wish it were closer: It has a lovely 2.4-mile walking loop with Lake Washington on one side and a dense, old growth forest on the other. It’s one of Seattle’s more serene parks; even on weekends, it never seems crowded (unlike Green Lake, my own neighborhood park, which can look like Malibu beach on sunny weekends).

USk Seattle met at Seward on Wednesday when it was cool and overcast. Since the temperature was ideal for fitness walking, I began the outing with a loop around the park. Although the dense growth of trees is serene, it’s formidable to sketch; I was looking for an individual tree I could isolate easily in a composition. About three-fourths of the way around, I came upon an old snag with an interesting shape (at right).

When I completed the loop, I looked around for another sketch and found myself at a familiar spot just as the sky was clearing. I think the first time I sketched this stand of shoreline poplars (top of post) was with graphite in Kathleen Moore’s nature drawing course years ago. Another time I made a quick stop when I happened to be in the neighborhood. Anytime in the afternoon, the slender trees cast lovely shadows that I find irresistible.